Anyone who reads my blog knows i love street art. I enjoy seeing a beautifully executed stencil or paste up and wonder how these people do it so fast, under the pressure of not getting caught. Sometimes I secretly wish i could do some guerilla art forms myself, in record pace, with precision and the rush of the moment. But since i'm a mother of a four year old, it's probably not the wisest thing on earth for me to be doing.

I'm the type of person who digs a New Year's house party the best. There's something about getting together with good friends and ringing in the new!

This year I'm thinking "Lucky Seven" would be a good theme and with that in mind "Casino" seems to be the obvious set up. Off to my favorite party supply store for anything and everything casino! First off for hats, some plastic casino dealer visors ($28 for a dozen); decor, i love their 25" Playing Card Cutouts (printed 2 sides) for the wall at $3.69 each, assorted Casino Balloons (25/Pkg) for $12.95, 30" Dangling Casino Cutouts (3/Pkg) $6.20, and a Casino Decorating Kit (44 pieces of Casino goodness, like tinsel "Casino" fringe banners, roulette wheel cutouts, black jack signs and more). They also rent out casino supplies, like bingo cages to get things warmed up; roulette wheel tables for $150; blackjack tables $50 and all the chips and things that you need.

Last minute shopping, last minute wrapping, I'm sure we all feel the crunch on the last day before Christmas. There's always an eleventh hour gift to pick up, we miscalculate our wrapping paper situation, and of course, times a ticking!

Well, internet to the rescue. There's a bonanza of last minute ideas that don't need to be ordered online, you can download things from songs to gift tags and sit nicely curled up by the fire at the same time, let alone, dodge all that traffic delerium.

That was some storm last night, and while I lay awake, waiting for something to come flying in my window, visions of Christmas Markets danced in my head. In fact spinned, there are so many good ones happening in the next week! If you are the kind that digs local indie handmade goods, and locally owned shops, there are a few good Christmas Markets and night openings to attend to this weekend, and even next!

Starting tonight remember, there is late night shopping in the Main Street and Broadway area. Lark 8th Avenue (8th Avenue and Main) in association with Dadabase and Antisocial are open till 10:00 p.m. Also a little bird told me Lark 8th Avenue just got their new Beck(y) Skate clutches in today and are currently being stocked! If you haven't seen these, they're the clutch bags made from old skate boards out of Brooklyn, NY.